12 Reasons We're Craving Smoked Salmon, Lox And Gravlax This Weekend

Stories and recipes from the world of cured fish

This weekend, we're craving those beautiful wispy slices of cured and/or smoked salmon known as lox. That salmon's not just for bagels with cream cheese though, it's for quiche, salad, sandwiches (maybe even with mustard) and more. If you're a purist, get it hand-sliced at a reputable bagel or full-on specialty gourmet shop, and lest we put the cart before the horse, here are 10 bagel stories to chew on while you eat.

12 Reasons We're Craving Smoked Salmon, Lox And Gravlax This Weekend

Learn the different kinds of smoked salmon

Lox most commonly refers to Nova-style: whole salmon fillets cured in a salt-sugar rub or brine (like gravlax) then cold-smoked (unlike gravlax) so that they don't cook at all. There's also hot-smoked salmon, which is fully cooked with heated smoke. More smoked salmon knowledge, plus a nod to the purists, after the jump.

A luxurious twist on a breakfast staple

You're always going to need to know the basics, so you might as well master them. While the homemade yogurts look delicious, this tangy-salty-savory spin on bagels with lox seems like a better way to start your weekend morning.

A light fish dish with warmer months on its mind

Extend spring cleaning past the closet and do something good for your body with culinary authority Jenny Chandler. Her latest book, The Better Bean Cookbook, extols the virtues of vegetarian, protein-packed legumes and offers a world of ways to prepare them. Hot-smoked salmon and tender boiled eggs complement this lentil salad for a light but satisfying lunch or dinner.

You know you love lox, now show it.

When it comes to breakfast, especially with regard to bagels, I have no new information for you. You either smear or schmear, layer on the good stuff and chow down. But when it comes to lunch, provided you won't be eating it on an airplane, smoked salmon is the protein du jour.

Savory tart is perfect for brunch or a light lunch

Writer and cookbook author Megan Gordon's new release, Whole-Grain Mornings, is all about healthy breakfast! Count us in, particularly when it's a quiche full of smoked salmon and crème fraiche perfect for breakfast, brunch, second brunch, first dinner, you name it.

Lox got you down? Turn to other smoked fish.

I felt kind of bad touting the benefits of mascarpone on a bagel yesterday, like I was betraying my city, my people and my favorite spread all at once. But mascarpone on a bagel IS delicious. I stand by it. Whether you go the fuller-fat route or stick with classy Philly, sometimes it's not the spread's fault you're bored. Good thing there are other smoked fish.

A tricked-out take on lox and cream cheese

This recipe pairs a smoky fish with a tangy cheese and wrap things up nicely with the bite of a chive — the little onion that could. Snipping chives with kitchen shears or simply a pair of sharp clean scissors makes the task of finely chopping them quick and easy, which means you can go straight to the best part: eating the smoked salmon and goat cheese!

Chefs reinvent classic bagels and lox for IACP week

A handful of chefs riffed on the iconic bagel with lox in preparation for the International Academy of Culinary Professionals' (IACP) annual conference, held this week in NYC. These delightfully fishy dishes will welcome the chefs, writers, historians, teachers and other food professionals who come together every year to present seminars, demonstrations and more.

How to cure salmon for a tasty treat

Gravlax is one of Nordic cooking's greatest gifts to the world. You take a salmon fillet, cure it in salt, sugar and fresh dill, and in a few days you have a a terrific stand-alone appetizer, a topping for your Sunday bagel, or an inventive new twist on a sandwich meat. Any way you translate it, gravlax is delicious.

How to make (and use) this colorful salmon recipe

I have been making straightforward gravlax—using just dill, salt and sugar —for years, and always toyed with the idea of making a beet version. The beet only flavors the fish flesh slightly, but makes its mark through the color it imparts. This is a splendid dish for feeding a lot of people (it’s a boon at Christmas) and it doesn’t take much effort.

Bagels, cream cheese and lox swap brunch for lunch

A bagel with lox is about the happiest food there is for any New Yorker worth his or her imported gray sea salt. For many, especially in neighborhoods with longstanding old-school appetizing stores, it's not quite a Sunday morning until they've had their bagel, thickly shmeared and boasting an generous inch-thick layering of hand-cut, house-smoked salmon.